Belfast McDonald’s manager wins national Ray Kroc Award

Valerie Stelline, general manager of the McDonalds Restaurant in Belfast.

January 17, 2012 4:41 pm

BELFAST, Maine — Valerie Stelline, general manager of the McDonald’s Restaurant in Belfast, has won a Ray Kroc Award, which recognizes the top performing managers in the country.

She was the only one in Maine and one of a select few in the country to win the honor, which includes cash, a trophy, a ring, a pin and a trip to an awards gala in Chicago, hosted by McDonald’s USA President Jan Fields.

Last year, there were 114 managers selected for the Ray Kroc Award out of the 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S.

Stelline was presented her award on Friday, Jan. 13, at the Belfast McDonald’s by the restaurant’s owner/operator Douglas Quagliaroli.

Named after McDonald’s corporate founder Ray Kroc, the award was established 13 years ago to honor restaurant managers for “superior performance and achievement.”

When surprised with the honor, Stelline said, “I am very honored to win such a prestigious award for a company I love working for. I also have a great team behind me that shares the same vision of running a great restaurant.”

Douglas Quagliaroli said, “It takes a special kind of manager to be able to achieve success in all areas of running our business. Valerie is that special manager. She has taken an opportunity and turned it into a huge success story.”

Quagliaroli and his wife, Linda, of Hampden, own McDonald’s restaurants in Belfast, Bucksport, Ellsworth, Machias and Old Town.

Stelline began her career with McDonald’sin 1986 and has served as the Belfast restaurant manager since 2008. She was recently promoted to general manager to oversee both the Belfast and Bucksport restaurants.

She lives in Levant with her husband, Tom, who is a McDonald’s supervisor in the Quagliaroli organization.